To Be Brave
by TheSummerNightingale
Summary: Ginny Weasley wanted to be brave. She wasn't fond of waiting around, being chased by the Carrows. She wanted to do something, and so she convinced Neville to recreate Dumbledore's Army. A take on how the D.A. came to be again. Set in the seventh book.


**Written for the Battle Royale challenge:**

"**She stepped out and cautiously tiptoed to her right with her back pinned against the wall of the house where she had been hiding."**

**Character - Noriko Nakagawa: She is sweet, caring, humble, and trusts her closest friends. She is clever and smart. Even though Noriko had many friends and was willing to get to know anyone she was more quiet than most girls.**

**So I picked Ginny, mainly for the first two sentences :) It's my first time writing her, ever, so I hope I did an adequate job… Enjoy! **

**And a shout out to my beta, disharandive98! :) Thanks!**

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Ginny Weasley didn't want to sit. She didn't want to stay put, and she certainly didn't want to hide while Ernie MacMillan chased off the Carrows. She wanted to be brave, and she was angry that she had let Ernie take her place in facing the Carrows.

But she had the feeling that if she got up now, she'd be tortured to death by them.

A hand settled on her shoulder, and Ginny immediately hopped up on her feet, jumped backwards, took out her wand and pointed it between the person's eyes.

Hannah Abbott looked mildly surprised, but she quickly recovered. That was normal. Nowadays, nobody was startled when somebody had good, quick reflexes. The mix of exhilaration and fear was a familiar friend to many, if not all, of the students of Hogwarts.

"Oh, sorry," Ginny said apologetically, pulling her arm back and sitting back down on the floor again.

Hannah smiled kindly, and sat next to her. They were in the Hufflepuff common room, where there were plenty of empty couches to sit on, but in case Ernie could not hold them off, Ginny had taken refuge in a space (there were no corners, as the room was shaped like an oval) far from the center of the room.

"It'll be okay," Hannah said comfortingly. "Ernie's a Pureblood. He'll be alright, and so will you."

In any other time of her life, Ginny would have honestly tried to believe Hannah's sweet, friendly voice - any other time but now.

She shook her head, and her loose red hair moved with her. "I'm a Weasley," Ginny murmured. "They won't stop taking every chance to torture me until I'm dead. And the only reason Snape hasn't gotten me killed yet is because it'll make Hogwarts the center of attention of the whole Wizarding World."

Hannah gave her a look of sympathy. "You can always come here if you need help, Ginny. I know that Harry would want that."

Her words were meant to be soothing, but the mention of Harry angered Ginny. "Don't talk about him," Ginny snapped, forgetting her place. "He doesn't have any idea what's going on here, and what we've all had to bear. At least _he's_ not in the clutches of You-Know-Who's most faithful servant."

It was extremely unfair to Harry, but Ginny didn't care. He'd left them in this hellhole, and even though Ginny knew he was going through worse, at times like these, she couldn't forgive him for that. But she felt guilty for being so selfish.

At that very moment, the sound of footsteps came from the main hall of the Hufflepuff quarters. Ernie MacMillan walked in, his face tired, and his forehead glistening with sweat.

"They're gone," he informed Ginny, sounding relieved.

"Thank you," she said, getting up onto her feet, though she still couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt at throwing Ernie out there to throw off the Carrows. "You're alright?"

He nodded tiredly. "What are you doing up so late, anyway?"

She'd already explained it to Hannah, who, along with Ernie, was the only other person awake after the strict curfew when Ginny had darted into the Hufflepuff common room. Their own, Hufflepuff way of rebelling against Snape and the Carrows' rules.

"I needed to walk," Ginny said truthfully, painfully aware of how helpless she sounded. She cleared her throat. "And I bumped into one of the Carrows, who decided he wanted to use the Cruciatus Curse on me, but I Stupefied him, and ran to the nearest place I could find." She gestured around the cozy common room that gave the strong impression that they were snug in a badger's den.

Ernie pursed his lips, but sounded kind as he said, "Be careful next time." He didn't tell her to refrain from taking a midnight walk, which was considered suicidal, considering who she was, and she was thankful for that. She supposed that even in such a friendly House, the people knew the need to be alone and get away.

But the next thing that Ernie said made her spark up in indignation. "And don't try to be him. You'll just get yourself killed."

Ginny froze. "Be who?" she demanded, though it was obvious who he was talking about.

"Harry Potter."

She felt her anger rising. "Why is it," she said in a deathly low voice that made Hannah cringe, "that everyone associates me with him?!"

"Well, weren't you going out with him?" Ernie said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she growled.

Hannah held out a hand, stopping Ernie from replying. "What he means, Ginny, is just that you should be careful, since the Carrows are targeting you specifically because of your connections with Harry."

Ginny tried to breathe through her nose to keep her temper in check. They were just trying to help. They didn't know about the underlying betrayal she felt at Harry, Ron, and Hermione leaving. Even though it was so _stupid _of her to be selfish. They were doing this for the Wizarding World. They knew and accepted the risks of going, and that they might not come back. Now, Ginny had to accept them.

"I'll try," she said, looking at both of them in the eyes. She could tell they didn't believe her, but they nodded. "Thanks for hiding me," she told Ernie. "Sorry that you had to talk to them."

Ernie shook his head. "It's nothing."

"It was something," Ginny said firmly. "Thank you both. I'm going to go now that they're gone."

Hannah gave her a smile, and patted her shoulder. "Remember, we're always here."

As Ginny started down the hole in the wall to the entrance of the den, she heard Ernie bark, "Weasley!"

She turned around to see him step forward, his face slightly contorted. "Don't think too much about Potter and how he's doing."

Hannah added, "Worry about yourself."

Both of their faces were so earnest that Ginny didn't have it in her to tell them that she _couldn't_ stop worrying about Harry, and that was why she was being reckless now. Because she couldn't bear to think of what he was going through.

"Thanks," she said numbly, and continued down the hallway until she reached the wooden circle and pushed.

The door opened to a tiny stone recess. She could see the painting entrance to the kitchen from here, lit by a torch on the wall. A friend from Hufflepuff had once told her how to get into the House. But her friend wasn't here anymore. She was one of the many Muggleborn students to have gone missing this year.

Ginny stepped out and cautiously tiptoed to her right with her back pinned against the wall of the House where she had been hiding. She peered over the corner, to see if anyone was there.

The hall was empty, so she carefully started towards the Gryffindor common room.

She made it to the Fat Lady without any conflicts with the Carrows or Filch, and whispered, "_Dark Mark_," to the portrait.

The Fat Lady opened, saying quietly, "Glad to see you back safely, dear. One of these nights..."

Ginny couldn't help but smile a little. "Thanks," she replied.

The portrait swung and closed the entrance behind her. Ginny kept her footsteps soft and light as she walked into the common room.

Upon walking in, she saw someone sitting on the couch.

"Neville?" she guessed.

Neville Longbottom turned and looked at her. His face seemed so much older than last year, she thought sadly. Everyone's did.

"Hey, Ginny," Neville greeted her.

She went over and sat next to him. For a moment, they just gazed into the flickering fire, thinking to themselves.

Ginny had never felt more frustrated - so trapped - in her life. She wanted to _do_ something. She wanted to be able to have some kind of purpose, and not spend her nights aimlessly walking around the corridors and hiding in Hufflepuff common room. She wanted to do something that defied the Carrows and Snape, and showed them that they weren't in complete control of her.

Problem was, being monitored 24 hours a day did not leave much room for rebellion.

Except Ginny was a Weasley. Ginny was also Gryffindor, so even when the idea that somehow wormed its way into her head was absurd and would probably get them all killed, she couldn't help but find the idea appealing.

"Neville," Ginny said slowly.

He didn't look at her, but said, "Yeah?"

"I have an idea."

He turned, taking note of her determined expression. "What is it?"

"Dumbledore's Army." She felt it. This was right. "We can recreate it."

Neville looked confused for a second. "Wha-" he began, but his eyes widened as he took in her meaning. He started to shake his head. "We can't."

"Why not?" Ginny countered passionately. She stood up in her excitement. "It's a way to counter the Carrows. To show that we're not falling, not completely." It was perfect. Perfectly, pricelessly perfect.

"It's dangerous, Ginny," Neville said firmly. "It'll risk the lives of everyone who participates."

"Please, Neville, our lives are already at stake - everyday, we go to a class taught by Death Eaters. I don't think our chances of dying would increase that much, would they?" she said drily.

Neville stood up as well, still shaking his head. "Ginny-"

But she was on a roll, and continued, "And see, Neville, we could teach people how to defend themselves. A Wizarding War is inevitable - we can help people prepare for it!" She looked up at him hopefully.

Neville seemed to consider it for a moment, but stopped himself. "True, but if the Carrows or Snape found out-"

"They don't have to!" Ginny exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Hermione already set up the defenses for that. And speaking of Hermione, didn't she, Harry, and my brother make the D.A. for this purpose? Because Umbridge wasn't teaching anything?" She pleaded. "Come on, Neville, it's a good idea."

"They caught us, Ginny. At the end. If the Carrows catch us, we'll all be killed on the spot."

Ginny sighed. "They don't _have_ to catch us," she repeated. "We can avoid them. We can set up all the defenses we want to! We can rebel." Her eyes sparkled, and Ginny hadn't felt this alive since… well, since her kiss with Harry.

But Neville was intent on refusing. "It's too dangerous."

"A war is dangerous, Neville, that's how the world is!"

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"You can't risk the lives of people like that."

Ginny huffed. "We wouldn't be telling them to go and hex the Carrows or take on You-Know-Who themselves."

Neville stared at her. "So? It doesn't matter; it's still risky."

"Why are you so against this?"

"Because it's reckless!"

"Well, maybe it's time we do something reckless instead of sit around waiting for Harry to save us!" Ginny all but shouted.

When she realized what she had said, Ginny stopped and sat back down, breathing heavily and watching Neville carefully. He was regarding her with a calculating expression, and she got the feeling that she'd just spewed out the very thing she'd been keeping bottled up inside her for a long time.

She stared at him defiantly, waiting for his answer.

The stony silence stretched for a minute or two, until Neville finally spoke. "You're right." He sounded hesitant, but he repeated himself, this time with a stronger tone. "You're right."

"Wait, what?" Ginny hadn't expected him to be so submissive.

Neville nodded and sighed. "It's dangerous, don't get me wrong. I still think that we're taking a big risk, here. But-" he paused, and Ginny could make out a raw, Gryffindor emotion in his determined eyes. He continued, "you're right. We need to do something instead of waiting." He shrugged. "And what else is better than completely defying their wretched rules?"

Ginny felt light, and she felt energized. "So we'll really do it?" she said, and had the feeling she was gushing, but didn't really care.

Neville scratched his head, nodding slowly. "We'll do it."

She would have yelled with delight, except that it was almost four hours after curfew, and all the younger students were probably already have nightmares and didn't really need her yell to add to them.

"This will be amazing," Ginny said, unable to keep the wide grin from her face. "It's _perfect._"

The corner of Neville's mouth twitched, but he still sounded serious as he spoke. "We'll start spreading it around tomorrow. Tell everyone in your year that you think might be interested, and tell them to tell their friends, and on and on, but make sure no one lets the Carrows know."

"Wouldn't want them to start chasing down everyone in the school," Ginny agreed.

"They're the type to do that," Neville stated.

She snorted. "There'd be no more students left in Hogwarts, and they'd have to explain to the world that they killed everyone here."

"It would be called the Hogwarts Massacre."

"Everyone'd revolt against Snape and the Carrows. I could only imagine what my mum and your grandmother would do," Ginny grinned.

"My grandmother would probably come in with her umbrella and bash Snape on the head. And maybe You-Know-Who would be so angry at the Carrows for killing mini Death-Eaters-in-the-making that he'd kill them for us," he chuckled.

Ginny started to laugh a little. It was such a foreign action that she couldn't help but keep on laughing, until she was in full-blown hysterics. Tears started to come into her eyes as she clutched her sides and leaned back on the couch, gasping for air.

Neville looked alarmed, and the expression on his face made her laugh even harder.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Ginny managed to say, "I don't think so," through her laughs.

Neville snorted. Then he laughed. And just like Ginny, the laugh was such a contagious, intimate thing, that soon, he was holding his sides right along with her, and they were just two teenagers grasping for a normal life with normal experiences, laughing in front of the fireplace and pretending that the war didn't and couldn't exist.

When their laughs slowly started to die off, both of their faces were red, and Ginny's face hurt from smiling so much. "Sorry," she laughed.

Neville grinned, and shook his head. "I think we both needed that."

"We all need that," Ginny corrected, smiling.

He let out another laugh, and yawned right after. "Blimey, it's late, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Four hours past curfew."

Neville snorted. "Well, no difference in staying awake late and sleeping early - when we wake, it's still hell." He got up, stretching. "I'm off to bed. You going?"

Ginny shook her head. "In ten minutes, maybe. I just want to stay here for a little longer."

Neville started towards the boys' dorms. "Alright. Just remember. Spread it around, but make sure it stays a secret. Or else it'll be the Hogwarts Massacre." Even though it was a very probable thing, when she heard him chuckle, she couldn't help but grin as well.

When his footsteps receded, her face slowly shifted back to a bleak, plain expression. Her heart was still beating quickly from their laughing fit, but Ginny was back to herself - or at least, her self that she'd gotten accompanied to for the past half-year.

Dumbledore's Army. The perfect way to rebel against the Carrows. A beautifully beneficial way to prepare students for the upcoming war, and provide a place to belong. It would be their common ground. The students of Hogwarts would take pride in knowing where their true loyalties lay, no matter what happened in - supposedly, Defense Against - the Dark Arts class.

She leaned her head back on the couch. Somewhere out there, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were probably camping out in the dark. They were probably scared out of their minds, and yet bravely facing dangers day and night. They were being brave.

And Ginny was so, incredibly relieved to know that this was her chance to be brave, too.

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**Yay, hoped you all like it :) Thanks for reading! (Any chance of reviews..?)**

**Love, Summer**


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